Daddy's Gunna Buy You a Mockingbird
by entirely-our-own
Summary: A case leads the team to NY, where someone has been killing families, taking the daughters hostage, but killing them as well. But now they have a survivor, a 15 year old girl from one of the more recent families. WARNING: some references to self harm
1. Chapter 1

1 for being a mistake, 1 for my own screw ups, 3 for doing this to my family, 20 to see who cares. All up my right wrist, nice and lined up like scribbles in a paper. So much like scribbles on paper that I can't even use red pen without feeling like throwing up. Why am I even doing this to myself? Right, who would notice or even care? How do those lyrics go again? "I can see you're sad even when you smile, even when you laugh, I can see it in your eyes deep inside you want to cry." God, I'm so pathetic.

Pathetic enough to hide. An outsider wouldn't even know I was home. Looking back I guess it was for the best that I was in that mind frame at that given moment.

Because as I made the 25th slash for tonight I heard my mom screaming outside where I was. Screaming and something that sounded wet and disgusting. There was gurgling, then silence. It didn't stop there though. I could hear foreign footsteps going up the stairs, then my brother screaming and my dad pleading the person to stop. Then that scream was cut off the same way, and once more for my dad. Shit. He's going to come this way.

Frozen only for a few seconds I jumped behind the dryer, keeping the lights off, taking the knife with me in case. I only had about 5 seconds before I saw the lights flick on. I stayed quiet. Easier said then done, by the way. I had to hold my breath so my breathing wouldn't be heard. It seemed like forever of just dead silence. Finally, I heard the knife of the stranger fall into the bathroom sink. If only my mom believed in guns... I waited until I heard the footsteps leave, and the light turned off. I heard the stranger check my room, then the closet under the stairs before they stalked off. I figured it was a smart thing to do now to quietly follow them to get a glimpse of who it was. Yes, I've watched many a crime shows in my day. I carefully climbed over the dryer, being careful that the metal didn't bend in and make a popping noise, a certain skill I've acquired from my hide n seek days, and I glanced around the corner. He didn't even bother to wear a mask! I noted down in my mind exactly what he looked like, memorizing every line in his face. He left the house, but not before sending a bullet through my dog Kali, for good measure. I choked a bit. Heartless son of a bitch killed my senior puppy! I waited until his white Van, I memorized that too, pulled out of the driveway.

Finally.

I ran to my mom and checked her pulse. Dead. I started to cry. "Mom?" I swallowed my tears back. I don't have time! I ran upstairs to see if I still had a dad or a little brother. Both were dead. "Cameron? Daddy!" my voice was so shrill now.

I didn't call the cops right away. There was some stuff I needed to do first. I didn't turn on the lights just in case, but I grabbed the chlorox wipes and cleaned out the empty bathtub, scrubbing it completely clean. I didn't clean just that, I cleaned the whole bathroom so it didn't seem weird. I cleaned my cuts after that, and changed into a long sleeved shirt. I grabbed some clothes, and shoved them in a bag to take with me, since this was a crime scene now. I didn't care what I grabbed, I couldn't even see through the tears openly pouring down my face. The whole ordeal took me less than 7 minutes.

I finally could call 911. I grabbed my cell. My old track-phone one, it wasn't traceable. All precautions necessary. "Hello, 911, what's your emergency?"

"My family is dead. I hid, and I'm fine but I don't know how long that will last. Please help." I know how to control my voice so it was understandable, even though someone looking at me could infer I was basically traumatized.

"Alright, police and paramedics are on the way, I need you to stay on the line-"

"I can't! This is a prepaid phone and I have, like, 1 minute le-" it cut off. Perfect.

"FUCK!" I shouted, hurling the phone across the room. If only I hadn't wasted the minutes sending the pictures from it to my newer one. And it's not like I can just call 911 back. I curled up against the wall, hands on my face, not able to control the hysteria escaping now. After about 30 seconds, I got up and found both cats and held them. They knew something was wrong and let me. I stayed in this position, hoarding my cats, for minutes. My head throbbed, and I couldn't even see.

The door opened. For a fleeting second I thought it might be the man coming back. I scrambled back before I could see who was there. A flashlight shone in my face. Ow. I let go of a cat to shield my eyes and saw people with guns in front of me. FBI was written on their vests. They all lowered their guns, and the brunette woman pulled me up and away in a protective way that seemed like she'd had to much experience in this.

"Wait!" I cried out, straining against her hold to turn around. "The animals!"

"It's okay, Kid, we got them" the dark skinned bald guy reassured and grabbed the cats, motioning toward the skinny one to grab the guinea pig cage. "Here, I'll just put them in the car outside."

The tears started in even further force now. I leaned against the brunette, allowing her to support me as I almost made myself sick from this. What just happened? It seems like a half hour ago I was just listening to YouTube. 20 minutes ago I began my almost nightly ritual, and just 15 minutes ago I was interrupted, and now my whole family is dead. I blacked out, momentarily wondering why the FBI was involved.

o.o.o.o.o.o

Went fast, right? X3 fits the rushed mood. Beginning. For the record, the character does not channel me. Sorry that it was only 2 pages worth on Microsoft word, I'll make the others longer. Oh, and one more thing, I apologize, for any typos, I wrote it on my Ipod and autocorrect is a pain in the butt.


	2. Chapter 2

"The thing about family disasters is that you never have to wait long before the next one puts the previous one into perspective." ~Robert Brault

I only blacked out for a couple seconds. It's happened before. Seems to happen to the swimmers a lot. Maybe it's the chlorine. Our pool didn't meet USA swimming standards... Anyway, It was enough to get the attention of the FBI people though. I was pushed towards the ambulance. I resisted for obvious reasons. "I'm not hurt!" I struggled against the hands of more than just the brunette.

"It's just a precaution." one of them tried to reason with me.

"I just need a cool towel." I knew it would help, it always helps the headaches I get when I'm upset like this.

"Why aren't you wanting to go with them to the ambulance?"

I don't know! I'm upset and can't think straight! "Because I want to be with the only ones I have left to comfort me right now, and they're in the back of a van right now." God, that sounded pathetic.

"The pets?"

I nodded. Stupidly, since I couldn't see a thing the headache got so bad.

"Okay how about this. We'll wait for you, you can ride with us and the pets."

I couldn't argue that one so I just nodded once more and walked/staggered to the ambulance people. They didn't do much but check my pulse, temperature, and ask a couple questions. Shock testing maybe? When they said I could go back to them I ran right away to the brunette that had supported me earlier. I hugged her, just able to tell she'd be supportive. She led me to the van where a blonde woman was in the backseat. The brunette helped me in, then got in next so I was in the middle. I put my head in my hands, my whole body shaking at this point, mine and my family's blood all over me from when I kneeled in their puddles. I just want to sleep! And have this be over with! The blonde tucked my hair behind my ear, something my mom always did when I was distressed. That simple gesture had me sobbing so hard I cried myself to sleep.

Prentiss point of view

I always hate it when I see children witnessing these horrors. Even if this one was more of a teenager. A stubborn one, definitely, but still just a kid. When she ran up to me and hugged me, it was just so sad. This is probably one of the worst parts of the job... Handling the survivors. By the time she had fallen asleep, worn out, in the car, it was a moment of relief. I looked at JJ. She looked just as weary as we all felt. It had been a long few days and they weren't over. Not even close. The girl shifted, leaning against JJ in her sleep. JJ unconsciously stroked her hair. Morgan glanced back from his spot in the drivers seat. "Fucking sadist has done this to the last family. This makes 24. Wait till I get my hands on him..."

"Morgan, you said that last time. We're all exhausted. We don't even have a lead."

"We do now. We have a survivor," he reminded me.

I wanted to, but couldn't reply because Morgan's phone rang at that moment.

"Yeah, Hotch?" Morgan answered. "Yeah, we're on our way now. She's in the back between JJ and Prentiss, along with the animals she insisted she couldn't leave alone. Because I wasn't about to argue with a hysterical kid, that's why. Alright, bye." he turned to the back again. "Hotch says to have you two keep her in the hotel room with you two, I'm supposed to drop you off and drive to the station for a quick meeting."

"What are we supposed to do if she wakes up? You know the first stage of grief is denial, how much do we tell her?"

"JJ you've handled the families before, you'll know what to do. Look, we're here."

Back to girls pov

The first thing I felt waking up was the WORST headache you could ever have. Ever. Why does my head hurt so bad? Maybe it was the nightmare I had. It was even worse than that super vivid one I had when I was 4 of spiders crawling out from various places around my bed that had me waking up screaming so hard the neighbors lights turned on. (Who, at the time, were quite far away). Did I mention I'm deathly afraid of spiders? Anyway, yeah. It was pretty bad. I just laid there with my eyes closed for a good while, savoring that moment of peace. Well, other than my headache.

It got too bad to ignore. I slowly opened my eyes, planning to get up for some Tylenol. That's how you know it's bad. I don't take medicine a lot since my parents tried to scare me away from the medicine cabinet when I was little by telling me if I take medicine when I don't need it, I'll be stuck with an illness for the rest of my life (depending on the medicine I take). I don't believe it now, obviously, but I haven't been able to bring myself to take medicine willingly since.

I slowly opened my eyes. Only to close them again. All I saw was a hotel. And those 2 women from my dream. "What the hell you guys don't exist, this headache has gotten too bad for me to function now." I whispered to myself. My headaches have never gotten so bad I've hallucinated before...

I felt cool hands push me to sit up. "Can you open your eyes?" I heard.

I did. Open my eyes, I mean, not sit up. "No." I made my face try to look like the no face (rage comics), but I can tell it didn't work. They both looked at each other and smiled. Why does everyone do thattt?

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine," I said, like always.

The brunette gave me a look. Damn that was a skilled look. That's a look that could almost rival my friend's look!

"Alright, I have a headache...as I said before. But it's not a big deal, I'll live." the truth to the last part, I will indeed survive this endeavor.

"Emotionally?"

The word was like a pulled trigger. Or a bomb exploding. Or the world ending. Something more dramatic. My stomach dropped. The same feeling I got last time I almost landed the snowmobile in the river with me still on it. The same feeling I get when I realized I've accidentally set myself on fire. That 'I can tell something's not right' feeling. That same ice blood feeling. "What do you mean emotionally? Why emotionally? I'm fine emotionally. I'm always fine emotionally." I gave HER a look that I knew I was good at that said plain and clear 'laissez faire".

"Alright, are you okay to answer a couple questions then?" The blonde sat down next to me.

"Not before you answer some of mine. Who are you, where am I, and why?"

"I'm Jennifer Jereau with the FBI and this is Emily Prentiss, also with the FBI."

"JJ and Prentiss." I said while nodding.

"That's what the rest if the team calls us." Prentiss said, surprised.

"Well duhhh, that's cause they just got coolified by like, 200 percent!" I looked at her like she was an idiot for expecting anything else. JJ smiled a bit at this.

"Well while we're on the topic of names, can you tell us who you are?"

"Sure why not. I am none other than Lord Anabelle Riley Santiago, commander of the Narnian Army, Defeater of Chuck Norris, winner of awesome new yorkian hair of the year award 5 years in a row, and cofounder of the chamber of secrets. The general public doesn't know the last part because Salazar slytherin is a glory hog. Even worse than Godric Gryffindor if you ask me. But anyway, you can just call me Amazing."

"You remind me of our tech analyst, Anabelle. How old are you?"

"You can actually call me by my middle name Riley, I like it better. And I'm 15 as of 2 days ago."

"Riley, what happened last night?" JJ asked softly.

"Well... I was upset about something... So I kinda... hid out in the bathroom slash laundry room and I…" I choked up a bit here.

"You what?" she probed.

"I don't know how accurate this next part is. But I heard my mom screaming then there was a gurgling sound and then he went upstairs and it happened again for my brother and my dad." my eyes teared up again. "I hid behind the dryer and he came in but didn't see me. So when he left the bathroom I followed him to see what he looks like and he shot my dog on the way out." I was all out sobbing now. "Oh god why do I remember it all so well right now!" I cried out, stuck in the moment, but unable to move away from the bodies.

"Shh Shh it's okay, it's over with, your safe now." she tried to calm me down, speaking in a tone you'd use on a 5 year old, which kinda pissed me off.

"I don't care about that! My family is dead and I could have went after him with the knife I had when I heard my mom screaming! I could have stopped him from killing my dad and brother! My brothers only 7, he still had so much of his life left! None of them deserved to die!" I almost shouted through angry tears.

"You wouldn't have been able to do anything. Especially if he had a gun. You did the right thing by hiding like that."

"No that's not all I could do! I don't care if I die trying to save my family as long as they're safe! When I get my hands on him I'm going to fucking murder that son of a bitch with my bare hands and feel his life leave while forcing him to look at pictures of my family so the last thing he ever sees is the family he killed so heartlessly. Then I'll bring him back just so he can live with the guilt!" I realized how psychotic that sounded so I just covered my face, not saying anything else.

"Sorry, I'm just really upset." I finally said. I looked up to see a worried look and a cell phone. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Prentiss dismissed, closing the phone as she and JJ exchanged a look. "We're just going to have to keep you under protection for a little bit..."

"Oh just great." I said sarcasm dripping with a skill I reserve for the worst of moments.

"I'm sorry, I know this must be hard for you."

"I just need a moment... Where's my jacket?" I asked, remembering I brought it in my bag of stuff. Prentiss handed it to me from the back of the seat. "I'll be right back." I took my phone and iPod from the pocket and went into the bathroom.

Once in there I turned on my iPod, put one earbud in, and pushed play, turning the volume low.

_I am going away for a while _

_But I'll be back don't try and follow me_

_Cuz I'll return as soon as soon as possible_

_See I'm trying to find my place_

_But it might not be here where I feel safe_

_We all learn to make mistakes_

_And run from them_

_From them_

_With no direction_

I resisted opening my phone cover and taking out the razor I kept in there. I accidentally touched the song length thing, making the song jump ahead a bit.

_And now I'm told that this is life_

_And pain is just a simple compromise_

_So we can get what we want out of it._

Isn't this what I was thinking last night? I wanted attention and now I have it. Pain is just a compromise so we can get what we want. Not even a hard one. Except right now I don't want this pain, I need a new pain…

I popped the case off of my phone, making the razor fall onto the towel that the hotel put in front of the bathtub. I picked it up and switched to holding it with my right hand, my non dominant hand. Shakily, I brought it to my left forearm. I want a distracting pain, not blood, or anything gory, just enough to act as a distraction. Just 5 times. But it felt like a break from reality for just a bit. Like drugs but better. Or what I imagine drugs would feel like. I wouldn't know, as displayed with the tylenol.

There was no blood, I barely broke the skin. They looked like cat scratches, erratic and small as they were. Nevertheless, I rinsed everything off, the throbbing making me feel so much better. I don't get why people are so against this, if you're careful it does nothing but make you feel better. I can't take this song anymore though. I turned off my iPod and put both the phone and iPod in my back pocket. Which, by the way, were still covered in everyone's blood, since I never changed my pants. That sucks, they were my Hollister ones. The only jeans I would ever buy from there though, I don't like spending $100 on jeans...

I felt ratty, so I washed my face and ran my fingers through my hair, flattening my bangs, before going out. At the last second I decided to stay by the door and listen in, just out of curiosity.

"..24th family, all the same... The teenage girl... Kidnapped... Died... Survived..." I only caught certain words. I gave up and came out of the bathroom. They stopped talking instantly. They were both around a laptop. I got closer to look. The blonde on the screen saw me and said "oh... Oh my..." and started typing furiously fast. I looked down and noticed all she would see is the bloodstained clothing and my tired looking face, the skin pale and thin looking from my headache. I sighed and rubbed at my eyes from beneath my glasses I took from the side table earlier. "I'm better. Well actually, I should probably change..." I took the bag I recognized, and brought it to the bathroom, choosing a hard rock cafe Tshirt and Aeropostale skinny jeans with my jacket. I loaded up on my favorite bracelets, like the rubber one saying EPIC across it, the one with little computer mouse pointer thing charms on a metal chain, the spongebob one. Not the more girly neon bangles, I was going hard rock today. (Because Aeropostale can totally be classified as hard rock...)

The whole thing took me about 3 minutes. I came out much cleaner feeling.

"I was still covered in my parents' blood..." I said, when they noticed my outfit change.

"Wait, why'd you specify your parents? Don't you still have a brother?" Prentiss said, catching that in my sentence.

"Because my brother didn't bleed for some reason. Actually, now that I think about it, I didn't see any wounds on him..." I got dizzy again.

I caught the look that passed between them. "Wait, you didn't know?"

"We didn't stay to look, and no one told us, till you just did now."

"Alright, let me guess. The reason the FBI is involved is because this has happened many times before. That much is VERY obvious. But I'm guessing his MO which was very consistent before, just changed. And that changes things with this case. And it's either really good or really bad. Oh, yeah, and after he couldn't find me, he sent a bullet through my dog. Was he pissed off that he couldn't find me? Is that why I have to be 'protected'?" I made air quotes around the word 'protected',

The girl on the computer had her mouth open. JJ and Prentiss looked impressed. I don't get why. It wasn't that hard to figure out, the stuff I said. I just shrugged, "I've watched many crime shows in my day. If it wasn't for all that darn paperwork, I'd want to be part of the FBI, or even better, the CIA be all kick ass save the day, super hero like. Or something like that…" They still looked impressed. I just gave them the "you are hopeless" look. "Now if you'll excuse me, this is getting to be a bit too much for me. I May not be able to hear you, so if you need me, tap my shoulder or something."

I took my ipod, searching to see if the hotel had wifi. It did, so I went to youtube, and busied myself with cat videos.  
>o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o<p>

So, twice as long. And 2 uploads in one day. I am on a roll! Remember how I said the character doesn't channel me? Well, I do also enjoy cat videos so….

The song was Misguided Ghosts by Paramore. The short passage in chapter 1, and the story title, are from Mockingbird by Eminem, which inspired the whole story. I know, it doesn't really relate to the story… But it did inspire it…

I was going to tell you all something, but I forget… So I guess review or something?


	3. Chapter 3

Prentiss again?

o.o.o

JJ and I would glance at Riley occasionally, because she would be watching the videos, then her eyes would close for minutes till something caught her attention. Her eyes would close soon after, a cycle going for a while until she finally gave up, and fell asleep. She didn't fall in the "people look more peaceful when they sleep" category, she actually seemed more stressed in sleep. I disregarded it. Let her dreams work themselves out.

"So, where's my Hershey Kiss?" Garcia asked from the computer.

"He's in the other room with Reid, Hotch, and Rossi."

"Alright, chickas, I'm going to give them a call and pass my magic on. Garcia out."

"Bye Garcia," JJ called from the hotel room table, where I had spread out some of the notes I got from Hotch just a few minutes earlier.

"Should we meet up with them soon?" I asked JJ.

"Not just yet..." JJ said, distracted. She was looking at the crime scene photos. "Why would his MO change so drastically with the boy? Even when the girls weren't home at the time in some of the older cases, he didn't act out like that."

"Maybe he knew she was home?" I theorized.

"Well then why would the unsub not look harder for her?" JJ countered.

"What if he was in a hurry? I think we need to speak to neighbors. I'll talk to Hotch if you want to stay here with her." I offered.

"Sure, though we might not stay in the hotel."

"Alright-" I was cut off by a knock on the door.

"We're needed at the station," Reid said, standing awkwardly at the door.

Riley stirred, opening her eyes briefly before closing them again. Meaning, she was awake.

"Hi, Riley," I nodded in her direction, and she opened her eyes fully.

"Darn, I was gonna test to see how well…" She stopped, and pulled her sleeves down over her bracelets rather suddenly. "Is it just me or is it kind of cold in here?" She asked, sitting up.

JJ looked alarmed. I gave her a questioning look and she just shook her head, saying "You're probably still tired; it's about 75 in here."

Riley nodded. "That would make sense, I'm used to 65 in my house so…" She trailed off, analyzing JJ the same way Reid and I were. She dismissed whatever it was that she could see in JJ's face. "I heard you guys are needed at the station?" Reid nodded. "Well then, what are you waiting for?" She got up, still attached to her Ipod, and went to put her converse on. "Oh, and I'm going to help find him."

JJ shook her head. "Um, I don't think that's a good id-"

"I'm helping. Period." Riley cut her off in a tone that could rival Hotch's. JJ shook her head in an exasperated way and held the door open for everyone.

o.o.o.o.o.o

Back at the station, 3rd person point of view

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"MEOWWWWWWW!" The cats were fighting again. Hotch rubbed his temples, remembering exactly why he and Haley never got pets for Jack. "Pst!" He chased them away from each other, for what felt like the 50th time. What probably WAS the 50th time.

A knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts of how the guinea pig was lucky water was necessary for survival since the chewing on the metal water bottle was getting to him. Prentiss, Reid, and JJ came in.

"Why can't she have had a pet goldfish instead?" Hotch asked, desperately. JJ and Prentiss laughed, each taking a cat, the feminism kicking in. Reid began with "Well, actually, pets can be quite good for the household, they boost emotions, and can even-"

"Reid." Hotch stopped him.

Riley stepped in behind them. "I agree with Mr. Genius over there." She jerked her thumb in Reid's direction. "Now, enough about my pets, you all should get to work. And I'm going to help you, I know things you guys may not." She shrugged. "Good practice maybe? I'm going to help you profile him. That's what it's called, isn't it? My phycology class may actually be useful. Anyway, I'm helping."

"No you're not." Hotch stared at her, daring her to object.

"Yes I am." She stared right back, determination clear in her watery eyed expression, even though she had avoided eye contact with everyone until that point.

"It's not a good idea." Reid interjected.

Riley turned her focus on him, her expression not as harsh as with Hotch, but still daring. "Why not?"

"Well, for one, you're personally involved, which means you could make irrational choices if your emotions get the better of you. They take agents out of cases they're involved in because of this very reason."

"I know that, I've read up," Riley nodded, clearly not caring.

"And it is very likely to happen given the fact that you are a 15 year old girl, who just went through a traumatic experience, and don't take this the wrong way, but from what I can see, you get emotional under normal circumstances as it is. Also, this could harm you mentally, forcing yourself to help in the case that took away your family. It's not a good idea for you to see the details." Reid listed, in a very Reid-like tone.

Her expression wavered. She looked down, and said in a helpless voice, "I want to help…" Her hair had fallen, covering her face in a familiar, comforting way.

Reid looked uncomfortable, wondering if he had said too much. He met Hotch's eyes, who gave him a reassuring look.

"I know one way you can help." Hotch compromised. "Have you ever heard of a cognitive interview? **(is that what it's called?)**

"Oh yeah, isn't that where I pretty much try to tell you everything I remember?" Riley looked up, hopeful .

"Yes, but it's like reliving it over again. If you think you're ready, Prentiss can run through that while we talk to neighbors. Do you think you can?"

"Yes." Riley answered very quickly. She knew she was scared, and she really didn't want to, but it was easy to tell herself that it's just a memory.

"Alright, Prentiss?"

She nodded, leading Riley to another room.

o.o.o.o

"Okay, are you ready?" Prentiss asked. asked. They were in the other room, a recording device set hidden. Riley nodded, and took a deep breath.

"It's okay to be scared, just know I'll be right here guiding you through it." Prentiss could tell, even with the brave face Riley had put on. It was a skilled cover, but Prentiss had her advantage with her job(s).

"I know, I'm fine." Riley wasn't about to give it up. Now was not the time.

"Alright, now just close your eyes and tell me, what do you remember first?"

"I started in my room."

"What was it like? Temperature, what you're standing on, any smells? "

"I was barefoot, so I was on carpet. My room was a nice steady 68 degrees, which is the temperature my house is set for. It smelled like my heated wax thing, which smells amazing, by the way. I could hear my music in the background."

"What were you doing? Why were you in your room, why was everyone elsewhere..."

"I never go out into the living room when it's full of family, its way too loud. But my dad had brought my brother upstairs to tuck him in for bed and all that, since it was starting to get late. I could hear their talking through the ceiling, since we have an old house. My mom was watching... Umm... Greys anatomy? House? One of those hospital shows that make me cringe when I watch it. And I was on my computer."

"So it was quieting down. What were you doing on your computer?"

"I was IMing friends, listening to music. I ended up wasting time on various sites."

"Like what?"

"Well I started off with the REALLY pointless ones, I waste so much time . com, attack of the cute . com, jello time . com. But I took a detour to one of my favorite sites- memestache- partner site, six billion secrets, which is basically a site where people post stories about their depression when they have no one to talk to. I knew better than to, since I almost always end up in tears after."

"What happened when you read the site?"

"I did end up in tears. So I uh... Went into the bathroom to clean up, pausing my music, Mockingbird by Eminem at that time."

"What did you do to clean up?"

Riley stumbled a bit, having to lie through this part. "Just changed into pj's, washed my face, brushed my hair, teeth, all that stuff."

"But you were wearing jeans when we found you." Prentiss seemed confused.

"That part comes later."

"Alright, now you're all ready for bed. But you didn't go to sleep yet. What happened next?"

"I heard the door open and I got a bad feeling, but I didn't pay attention. I thought it was just my dad's friend that comes over a lot to do church stuff. I didn't hear talking, though. I turned the lights off. I don't know why I did, it was just something I felt I should do. And then... And then I heard my mom scream, but it was cut off. Then I heard someone walking upstairs, but it wasn't the footsteps of someone who knows the house. I heard my brother screaming. And it wasn't his normal little kid screeching, it was a true terrified sound. Then that was cut off. And my dad, who had been pleading with him the whole time, had been silenced too." Riley's face was getting very very red at this point.

"Alright alright slow down," Prentiss said, grabbing a freaked out Riley's hands in hers to show her she was still there. "Go back to when you heard the door open. You said you thought it was your dad's friend. Does he come by a lot that late?"

"Kind of. He comes over after Knights of Columbus meetings to talk to my dad. And he and his wife come on some weekends to go with my parents for a drink or something. I think they do Karaoke a lot."

"Was there a meeting that night?"

"No."

"So your parents weren't expecting anyone, but they still opened the door for him?"

"No, there wasn't any knocking or anything. My dog woulda barked unless he walked right in."

"So the doors are unlocked. Did you hear your mom say anything to the person?"

"No, I already told you I di- wait… I heard something, like my mom started to say something but stopped really suddenly." Riley scrunched her eyes tighter, wondering why she didn't get that at first.

"He probably did something, made a motion, showed her something, that made her stop talking. You found that weird that there wasn't conversation. Why did you turn off the light?" Prentiss squeezed her hands lightly, another reminder.

"I don't know. Too many crime shows? I get paranoid easy when I feel something's not right, and I thought maybe if he didn't see me…"

"He wouldn't have seen the light to the bathroom?" Riley shook her head at this question. "Alright, Riley, how long after you turned the light off did you hear your mom's scream?"

"A couple seconds. Not even." Riley said this calm, but her face was getting redder with every sentence, and her eyelashes were beginning to dampen.

"That's about how long it took him to get to your mom. And you said her scream was cut off. Was that the only noise? Was there a gun shot, sound a knife would make?"

"You know, you saw her!" Riley was beginning to doubt this interview.

"Riley, please."

Riley sighed. "Knife, it was wet."

"Is that the only sound you heard?" Riley nodded. "So your mom was sitting down?" Again, Riley nodded. "Okay, what did you smell?"

"Smell? What?"

"Yes, smell."

Riley shook her head again. "My wax thing was strong, I didn't smell anything but that from my room, since it travelled to the bathroom."

"She took a while to bleed out, he didn't hit somewhere that would kill her instantly. But she wasn't screaming still, so he did something else." Prentiss explained her question. "But you didn't hear anything else at all? Not a crack, not a shot, nothing?" Riley shook her head.

"What about your brother and dad? You said he went upstairs, and your brother screamed, and your dad? How did that go? Was it the same as your mom?"

"My brother was different, I didn't hear the wetness, just a snap. My dad was the same as my mom though. Just that wetness, nothing else."

"So ALL of them weren't standing?"

"No."

"What did you guys have for dinner that night?" Prentiss had an idea of what happened.

"Well my family had meatloaf and mashed potatoes. But I'm vegetarian and I didn't want mashed potatoes, so I just had a peanut butter and jelly." Riley was beginning to really question where this was going.

"There may have been something in the food." Prentiss had to explain again.

"Then why didn't my brother die first? He's got the smallest body." Riley had to point it out.

"He also ate the least, right?"

Riley contemplated the idea for a second. "that makes sense."

"Alright, Riley, what did you do when you heard him come down the stairs?"

"I hid behind the dryer."

"He didn't hear you hide behind there."

"No, when me and my cousin used to play hide n seek, that was a fun place to hide. I learned how to not make the dryer metal pop."

"He didn't check either?"

"No, from the outside it doesn't look like there's enough room, but the wall is wider towards the bottom."

Prentiss nodded. "The bathroom wasn't the first place he checked though, right?"

"No, he came into the bathroom, seconds after I hid. I saw the lights turn on, and I heard him."

"Do you leave your curtains in your room open?" Riley nodded, but continued with what happened before more questions could be asked again.

"I heard him drop the knife in the sink. Well, more like throw. He paced for a couple seconds, then washed it. He took it with him, I checked. He turned the light off and went into every other room. I could hear him searching too. He opened the door really hard, I can tell because of how hard the things around my doorknob swing against it."

"How can you tell?"

"I use it to gauge how mad my mom is when she comes into my room. Anyway, after he checked my room, I thought it would be a good idea to try to see what he looked like. So I got out from behind the dryer, and went to follow him. The only reason I decided to do that was because my older cousin and I used to play CIA and pretend to be spies so I've gotten good at knowing what boards creak. In any house. I used to use the skill to eavesdrop on my parents, but I started hearing things I so didn't need to, so I stopped."

"Wait, Riley, who else knows how the boards creak in your house?" That was a question Riley could understand Prentiss asking.

"Literally just me and my cousin. No one knows my house, not even my parents. Oh, but I'm teaching my brother. Was teaching my brother…"

"So you would have heard him. You said to tried to look at the man. What did he look like?" Another reasonable question to Riley.

"Well, he had greyish hair, blue eyes, lots of wrinkles, the stress ones. But he had the smile lines too. Oh, heavyset too. Not really fat, just someone who would fit in here…"

"And in every other neighborhood he's visited," Prentiss recalled.

Riley nodded, really ready for this to be over with. She knew Prentiss said it was okay to be scared, but she was more upset, and hateful towards everything. She didn't like it, so she pushed through. "Anyway, I followed him, and he seemed mad. He sent a bullet through my poor dog, which was weird because that's the only pet. Anyway, he left the house, and he drove away in a white van truck thing, which isn't exactly an uncommon sight around this town. I tried to get a plate number, but I couldn't see and I wasn't about to get close enough to try to look. I went to my parents and brother, trying to see if they had a hope of life. My pj pants were so soaked in blood, so I went into my room and changed into the first jeans I saw, and called the cops. Well, I put a bag together of a couple basic things first. THEN I called the cops. And that's where you guys found me. Sitting in the puddle of blood that had flowed to where I was." a few tears were falling from Riley's closed eyes, but she didn't let herself breakdown.

"Riley, it's okay, you did so well." Prentiss held her as she tried not to sob.

"And this will help?"

"More than you may realize."

Riley, for the first time that day, let herself truly cry.

o.o.o.o

**So it's 7 pages worth on Microsoft after I copied it from my ipod, but it's mostly dialogue. But I worked hard for that dialogue. I had to use youtube and find cognitive interviews to make it more criminal minds – like. I watched each character. Reid has a harder time because he barely touches the surface, JJ is most concerned about the victim, asking if they need to stop and take a break, things like that. Prentiss pushes through, but reminds them that it is just a memory. Morgan just pushes through. How'd I do? **

**I tried more towards the end of the chapter than I did the beginning. I should keep a notebook on this case, I have a hard time following it myself…**

**Thank you, Yanirose, for being my first and only reviewer so far, and for having such a pretty penname! People should be more like you and review. **

**Right, People? Thank you for reading anyway!**


	4. Chapter 4

**DO NOT SKIP! Wait am I supposed to use reverse psychology or somethin? If I am than: feel free to skip... I think that's what I'm supposed to say... **

**Anyway, just to clear up some things that I forgot about in the other chapters:**

**Disclaimer: these are stupid, everyone knows I don't own criminal minds. Or the characters. Or any of the songs I mention. Heck me owning the plot line is questionable. I do own Anabelle Riley. And her family. And her pets. And the killer.**

**Just so you guys know I'm making this up as I go. I have an idea of what's going on, but that's it. I'll be just as surprised as you! :D **

**And I remember what I was gunna say at the end of chapter 2!**

**Cutting is bad. Don't do it. Stern look to all readers. I value your lives! **

**Oh, I actually get those headaches when I'm upset like Riley does. Does anyone know why that happens? Anyway, Onward! In third person!**

O.o.O.o

"Mary, I'm really really beginning to think this had to do with Riley!" Dominique had tried at least 10 times just in the last hour to get ahold of Riley, ever since the paper said a murder had happened on her street. Riley was always quick to answer to a text. She ignored calls unless it was her mother, but she never missed a text. She was now halfway through walking (not running, she already ran the first mile and a half) the 5 or 6 miles it took to get between the houses.

"Domo, relax, she usually sleeps till noon on weekends, remember? It's only two now. What if she just stayed up later. There was a Pretty Little Liars marathon on last night, she could have not decided it was time to sleep until 6 am or something." Mary was rambling, trying to convince herself more than Dominique. She would be on her way as well, but she lived 20 miles away and even on bike it was exhausting what with all the hills.

Dominique laughed nervously. "I guess you're right. Her and her Pretty Little Liars obsession, right?" her voice went up a couple octaves. "Listen, I'm gunna try again, so I'm going to hang up now. Call you back." She hung up, and broke out into a sprint again. She had changed into jogging clothes so she wouldn't look odd, and running was easy. She turned her iPod in, letting the music (a connection that brought her and Riley closer) motivate her to continue sprinting.

O.o.O.o

Hotch and Rossi were at the little white house next to the crime scene. They had knocked but so far no answer. There was no doorbell and they could hear the vacuum, so they decided to wait, assuming they were not heard. Across the street Reid and Morgan were having a bit more luck. Shortly after ringing the doorbell, and elderly lady hobbled to the door, welcoming them in with offers of cookies. The vacuum finally stopped.

"NO!" A hysterical shriek distracted the agents. They searched for the source. A teenage girl who was running down the road had seen the tape confirming her fear. She was now banging on the door, completely ignoring the tape. "God dammit Riley! I swear if this is some sick joke!" She kicked at the door, willing for Riley or her mom or dad, even little Cameron, to answer.

"Hey hey! Calm down, what are you doing?" Hotch and Rossi were attempting to get her away from the house, neither succeeding.

She sunk down to lean against the door, covering her face. Hotch and Rossi looked at each other for confirmation before deciding to tell her. "You're friends with Riley, correct? She's fine."

Dominique looked confused at first, then a flash of anger lit her eyes. "Why isn't she responding to anything, then? And who are you guys? How do you even know anything?"

"SSA Aaron Hotchner, this is SSA David Rossi, we're with the FBI," Hotch and Rossi both flashed their badges for proof. And she's not answering because she didn't take her phone with her."

"How do you know? Do you know a way to contact her?" Dominique was doubtful. That much was easy to see.

"Do you want me to call the agent I have with her? I can do that right now if you want."

"Yes." Dominique was up and pacing now.

"Alright." Hotch pulled out his phone dialing the number. Before pressing send he asked for her name.

"Dominique. Tell Riley Domo needs to talk to her."

O.o.O.o

"Mrs. Garrand, these cookies are lovely," Ried complimented, taking another one gratefully.

"Oh, you haven't even had my brownies yet! The kids in youth group just adore the brownies when I bring them." Mrs. Garrand was in no way modest. She knew her baking was amazing, she used to run a bakery in New York City before retiring with her, now deceased, husband John. She loved the City, but she had to admit, the quiet of this small town was rather nice.

"We'd love to stay and try some." Morgan was excited for the brownies. He was enjoying this interview so far. "But we actually have some questions for you."

Mrs. Garrand's expression turned sad. "About the murders, right? Such a shame. I used to babysit those kids while they were both still really young. I still babysit Cameron when both the parents and Anabelle are busy. And they both just love coming over here. And I love having them over. Sweet kids, the parents did a good job raising them. Well, until, you know…"

"Mrs. Garrand, did you notice anything odd last night?" Morgan was making an attempt to keep things on track, because he'd lost Reid to the smell of brownies.

"I was out of town last night visiting my daughter and her family, and I got back early this morning. It was a hassle, getting through some of the road blocks. But they let me through." She shook her head as a short answer: no.

"Okay, how about in the past week or so?"

"Not that I can think of. Everything was actually really beautiful. The weather was nice, the children of the neighborhood were out playing, Anabelle actually took her brother and the other little boy next door that she babysits for to the park. I guess the only thing out of place was the weather."

"Alright, thank you Mrs. Garrand, that actually helps us a lot." The brownies were done.

"Anything to help catch this guy." Mrs. Garrand handed them a paper plate full of brownies. "Food for thought." She smiled.

"Thank you so much. For the help and the treats." Morgan and Reid shook her hand before leaving the house.

O.o.O.o

Riley, who had been silently sipping on water in the break room, squeaked, almost choking on her water. "Oh my god!"

"What?" Prentiss asked, alarmed.

"Hu-Hunger Games trailer!" Riley pointed at the tv which was currently playing a preview of the Hunger Games.

"Oh yeah, I've heard of that. Isn't it twisted?"

"Mhm, that's what's so great about it. Oh my gosh I wanna see it so bad- WAIT WHAT DAY IS TODAY?"

"The 25th why?"

"It's out! Shiii-oot I promised Domo and Mary I was gunna see it later tonight with them and some other friends!"

"One of us can take you guys to see it if you want." JJ offered. Prentiss nodded in agreement. Riley's face lit up at this, and she nodded.

"When I walk in the room, this is what I see, eerrybody stops and they starin at me" That was Prentiss's phone, which was playing "Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO. Riley had trouble hiding her smile. If Prentiss didn't know Riley changed her ringtone when she wasn't looking before, she did now. Prentiss gave her a look before answering.

"Hello? Yeah." She handed the phone to Riley. "It's for you."

Riley took it, and barely got half of a hello before she had to hold the phone away from her ear because Domo was screaming so hard at her. "… Don't even bother to at least send your best friend a TEXT? You know, the one who promises to always be there for you? Yeah. I can't do that when I don't know if you're even alive! You had me scared to death! If those cops weren't there to say you were alive, I would have literally died! I swear to god if you pull something even remotely close to this ever again those cops may be back…"

"DOMO!" Riley shouted into the phone.

"…Ran all the way there! My legs hurt now thanks to you! You SO owe me a candy bar for this! No, no, you owe me a hug AND a candy bar! Riley, I will hate you forever! There is no way I will ever forgive…"

"Domooooo!" More rambling. "DOMINIQUE CALM!"

"NO! Riley you are dead to me. It is a good thing I love you so much." Domo's voice cracked; she had run out of breath.

"Domo, wanna go see Hunger Games tonight? I'm gunna ask Mary too." Riley shook her head, smiling. She loved her friends but sometimes…

"After all this you ask if I wanna see a MOVIE? I want to do a lot of things right now, and seeing a movie does not top that list. But yes, Riley, it's the Hunger Games, of course I want to see it."

Riley laughed. 'Good. Hang on I'm putting you on hold."

"RILEY DON'T YOU DARE PUT ME ON-" Riley put the phone down. The call had brightened her day just a bit. It was easy to tell, too.

"Jeez I could hear that whole conversation. Your friend is loud," Prentiss laughed.

"Yeah... Somethin like that, haha. So movies tonight... She ran all the way to my house and it's kinda far away from hers... I don't wanna have her walk back. You said those other agents were there could she come here with them or what?"

"No because they have some other interviews to hold, but we can pick her up."

"When?"

"Now if you want. We can stop by mcdonalds on the way, too since you haven't eaten yet."

"Thanks but I'm not hungry. Besides, even if I was, I'm vegetarian."

"How about subway? You haven't eaten all day."

"I'm seriously not hungry, even on normal days I don't eat until 3 or so."

"Alright..." Prentiss gave her a look.

"I'm not anorexic if that's what your worried about." Riley looked away. She wasn't, but that look was kind of intimidating.

"Then why don't you want to eat?"

"Because I am not hungry after seeing what I saw. Maybe I'll have some popcorn at the movie or something." She looked up, her olive tone tinted very slightly green. "My parents used to joke that my dinner looked like a massacre on my plate because of the ketchup mess." She smiled at this.

"Alright, well wanna tell your friend were on our way?"

"Yeah."

O.o.O.o

"She put me on hold... She frikin put me on hold. All casual like too. 'Oh I'm just gunna put you on hold making it so you can't talk to me even though I totally just gave you a heartattack but it's cool cuz I always take advantage of your tolerant heart.' TOLERANT Riley, but you are pushing it..." Domo was mumbling to herself pacing back and forth along the sidewalk.

"Yeah yeah I get it." Riley's amused voice came from the phone. "We're on our way be there in 5, bye!" and with that she hung up, clearly finding enjoyment in Domo's irritation.

She continued her mumbling as she handed the phone back to the agent. "Oh just hang up, I know you find some sadistic pleasure in knowing I'm not happy with you. Or would it be that long m word that means you get pleasure in knowing you're going to be dead. Yeah cuz you're sooo going to get an earful when I see you. Maybe a faceful too. And not of words or anything remotely affectionate..."

She paced until she saw the van thing pull up. The window rolled down and Riley motioned her over. As soon as she got in the car the agent focused their attention back to the neighbor.

O.o.O.o

**What the heck am I doing? This chapter was way too long, sorry to anyone actually following my story. :( I know I'm not supposed to make excuses but I saw the hunger games last weekend, spent the night at a friends house, so I couldn't write then. But when I got back to school monday I had a moment or 2 or 3 of why are boys so immature and stupid in my school. Didn't wanna write then since that attitude would carry over and not all men are evil... Once that was resolved (the next day, tuesday xD) I got super sick and that lasted until about Friday night which is when I wrote the bulk of this... Overtired and really hungry... Which left me at Saturday where I had a church thing and Sunday (right now) I had more church stuff (darn you palm Sunday). Then when that was over I got sucked into a YouTube criminal minds spree... Which lasted till about a half hour ago where I finally crawled into bed with my iPod and typed away. **

**And that whole thing was written a few days ago, I just haven't posted it yet, in hopes to get another chapter up with it.**

**TL;DR? I just made a bunch of excuses for why it took so long to update. **

**It won't happen again! :) **

**Remember when the review button used to be a green button? I do. :(**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you so much Toni Michelle and Sirens'Spell for your reviews on chapter 4! (Sirens'Spell, since you went anon, I can't thank you personally, so I will do so here: Thank you for your review! And someone else said she sounded a lot like Emily, but one of my other friends said Garcia… Hm, not sure.) Oh, and thank you to the other people who have read what I had written **

**Up to 4 people having me on story alert, must not let them down!**

**I'm going to write mostly in 3****rd**** person. Hoping to have this uploaded by the end of the day… anddd GO!**

O.o.O.o

"Daddy's gunna buy you a mocking bird, Imma give you the world." Riley glanced from her laptop at the stereo. Why did this not feel right? It was familiar. She disregarded the feeling, and continued with what she was doing.

Only to be interrupted again. "Riley." That voice was familiar too, but not familiar enough to be in her room. She looked up, eyes landing on a face that made her blood run cold. He slowly stalked toward her, holding a knife, as his face transformed into those she loved. Her mom's face, twisted in agony, her dads, eyes incredibly sad, her brothers, fear etched into a face that was too young for it.

She was frozen. "Riley!" The voice changed to match the faces. "You heard me scream and you didn't even look. You knew something was wrong and you didn't help!" her mom. "You didn't bother to warn me or your brother. I gave you everything in life, and you were too busy saving yourself to give us a chance to run away." Her dad. "I loved you Riley! I looked up to you! I wanted to grow up to be like you!" The baby voice of her brother.

"I'm sorry!" Riley finally managed to find her voice. "I really am, if I could go back in time I would save you too, but I can't! I love all of you so much, and I'm so sorry!"

"You're not sorry." The face settled as her brother, eyes more accusing than they ever could be. "You're not sorry, Ry, and you know you're not. You don't care that it hurt. It hurt, Riley, it hurt a lot. But it didn't hurt as much as knowing you let me and mommy and daddy die. You're so disgusted with us you're running away from me right now. You're not playing fair! Mommy, Riley's being mean!" He played tattletale, one last time, a Cheshire smile twisting his already dead features.

O.o.O.o

When Hotch and Rossi finally knocked on the door, it wasn't an adult that answered, but a small boy instead, maybe around age 6 or 7. "Who are you?" His question was asked in childlike frankness.

"Hi buddy, is a grown up home?" He nodded and ran inside, finding his mom in a matter of seconds. "Mom, there's people here to see you!"

She went to the door, wiping her hands on a dish towel on the way. "Hello," she greeted the men, tucking a stray blond curl behind her ear. "Zachary, I think SpongeBob is on." The boy took the hint and went into his room to watch tv. "How can I help you?"

"Hello, I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner, this is SSA David Rossi, we're with the FBI's behavioral analysis unit, we're here to ask some questions about last night."

"The murders, right?" She glanced towards her sons room, making sure he was watching tv and not eavesdropping.

"Yes, may we come in?" Hotch was polite, but his tone wasn't really a question.

"Yes yes, of course." She motioned them to the living room, and closed the door behind them.

"Did you notice anything off yesterday? Maybe someone you don't normally see in the neighborhood, a different car…"

The blonde thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No, not that I can think of."

"How about this past week or so?"

This one she didn't even have to think about. "No."

"Ok, tell me what the Santiago's are like? What is there standing in the neighborhood, any reputations, do they stand out?"

"No one here stands out. Everybody knows everybody and their relatives. We are a tightly knit community. It's the reason we moved here. My husband and I wanted the safe environment for Zach. The parents are great, they're active in the church, donate their time to the community. Everyone loves them. And they really did a good job raising their kids. Riley babysits for Zach sometimes, and she loves it. She is the only teenager I know who would take the offer of watching him and her brother on a Saturday night, rather than spending it with her friends. Cameron is the sweetest little boy. I love him like he's my own. Good thing, too, since him and my son are so close. Those two were inseparable. I don't know how to tell him…"

"Just be gentle. Don't give him details on anything just yet. But don't lie to him either. Good luck, and thank you for your help." The agents stood up, each shaking her hand. "We'll see ourselves out."

O.o.O.o

Garcia was furious. "You mean to tell me I have no say in this? Ma'am, I work for the FBI, just because I'm not an agent does not mean you can give me that… YES I know who I'm talking too. All I need is the file. Okay, you know what? I don't have time for this, so see your mouse moving on its own? That's me, hacking you, and now I have access to all of YOUR files in a matter of seconds. Oh wow 1234, very creative password. Sending the file to an account you can't see now. And changing your background to that lovely picture of your boyfriend I found, very professional. Good luck changing it back. Bye." She hung up, satisfied. She asked nicely for the file containing the names of the Santiago's relatives, but the woman said she wasn't supposed to give that information away to just anyone, and kept arguing the point, being quite rude.

Garcia opened the file, and began her background digging, hoping this poor girl had SOME family left that JJ could contact. The only one she could find still alive was a cousin she grew up with (And who the Santiago's had raised when his mom died of leukemia), but he was only 19, and could barely support himself.

"Come on, give her a break."

O.o.O.o

The car ride was long, taking nearly 20 minutes just to get out of the town, thanks to road blocks. (The town was so small, everything was in the "city" over). Dominique was giving Riley the silent treatment, staring out the window pointedly. Riley had given up trying to talk to her, and had fallen asleep. Because Domo was staring out the window so hard, it took her a few minutes to notice the tears pouring out of the sleeping Riley's eyes. Riley never cried in front of anyone, so this raised a bit of alarm.

"Riley!" Dominique shook her, trying to get her to wake up. When Riley opened her eyes, they looked distant, but terrified and upset.

"I'm fine. It was just a dream."

"That was not just a dream, what happened?" One would think that after all these years, Riley would know that Dominique read emotions like they were a good book.

"Domo, please."

"Okay." She knew when to stop. "You said you were going to have Mary come too?"

"Yeah. We should pick her up soon."

"Where does she live?" Prentiss piped up from the front seat.

"Near the police station, her mom's a cop." Domo answered before Riley could.

"That's convenient."

Both girls nodded, falling once again in silence the rest of the way.

O.o.O.o

"Bill. You are being unreasonable. This isn't her!" Noel was trying desperately to reason with his stepdad. The girl's life depended on it right now.

"Shut up, kid, it's my baby girl, I know it is. I'll show you."

O.o.O.o

Back at the station, Reid, Morgan, Rossi, Hotch, and JJ were back at the table, waiting for Prentiss. Garcia called in.

"This girl has no one left. Literally no one. Grandparents on both sides are dead, natural causes. Father was an only child, mother had a sister who had a son when she was 16. Never found a guy, died of leukemia when the kid was young. The son lived with the Santiago's until he graduated high school last year. He moved out, planning to join the military. He never did and is struggling to hard to keep just himself on his feet, he is not fit enough to be a guardian for this girl. Foster care is looking to be the only option right now."

This wasn't good news to anyone; they knew that foster care did not have a good reputation, even in this area.

O.o.O.o

"I told you so." Those words under normal circumstances were smug, but to the boy, they let him know he failed. He didn't succeed in convincing his psychotic stepdad that this wasn't the girl he was looking for.

"Okay, you were right. Again. I will find her though. You two are all I have left." The girl's blood was on Bill, so the words that should have been sweet, weren't. "Now help me find a place to put her."

O.o.O.o

The Suburban pulled in front of Mary's house, and Riley got out to get her. As soon as she rang the doorbell, Mary opened the door, attacking her with a hug, shrieking "OHMYGODRILEYYOU'REALIVE!"

"Yeah…" With Mary, it was best just to stand there and let her hug.

"Dude, Domo and I thought you were dead." She was talking with her hands, a phone in her right one. As usual.

"I heard." She laughed. "We're going to see the Hunger Games, wanna come?"

"Yeah…" Mary said this in a "duh" tone. "But that is not your car, who's car is it?"

"The agent's. Long Story. Come on, get in."

O.o.O.o

Prentiss joined the team in the room, after leading the girls to the break room, telling them to find a good show time to see the movie. The team had new information, and was ready to put it to use. They began their profiling.

Meanwhile, Mary, Dominique, and Riley were gathered around a computer, and they definitely weren't looking at show times.

"Lenny Kravitz you are an amazing Cinna. I swear, even if I didn't like the Hunger Games, I'd see it just for you. Totally more gorgeous than Peeta or Gale," Riley had brought up a picture of one of the actors.

"Helena Bonham Carter is so much more gorgeous." Mary smiled, knowing this sentence would get a reaction.

"That's only cause you like girls, not guys." Riley was ready to argue the point.

"I have my Jamie." Mary was referring to her girlfriend. Everybody and their mother knew they were obsessed with eachother. It's why Mary was attached to her phone. The bulk of the texts she got every ten seconds were from Jamie.

"Whatever."

Domo looked confused. "You guys are so weird."

"You're the weird one, Miss I-don't-even-like-relationships. I swear, you're like Sheldon Cooper." This was something Riley said often.

"I am genuinely hurt by that." Domo demonstrated her acting skills, almost (pretend) crying.

"Wait, really?" Riley knew the drill.

"Bazinga."

Domo and Riley both cracked up, while Mary looked beyond lost. 'What?"

"It's a Big Bang Theory thing…"

"Okay…"

Riley and Domo looked at eachother, exchanging the smiles that come with inside jokes. "If you watched The Big Bang Theory, you'd get it!"

"But I always have stuff to do!" That was one of her trademark phrases. The other two were "I'm Mary", and "It's just what I do." The last two could also be paired together. Once again, Riley and Domo exchanged private smiles.

"Okay, so we should really find a time." Riley reluctantly closed out of the picture, and went to Google. "Okay, Hunger Games show times, Regal Cinemas." She talked as she typed, a habit she picked up a while ago. "What time is it?"

"Almost 4. So we could go to the 7:30 one, and we'd still have time before the showing to do whatever."

"Perfect."

O.o.O.o

"Bill, why don't we just go back to the town from before, and find that girl that got away? You said it yourself, she knows her." Noel, once again, was stuck trying to convince the crazy person his mom married that he was being irrational.

"Noel, quiet. You don't know how bad it would be if I got caught, then I'd never have a chance to see her."

"It's your only option. Every time you find a girl, you think it's her, but it never is."

"I guess you're right. But if we go back, you have to lure her to me. She's under protection, I saw. And if by chance she recognizes me, everything collapses."

"I will. Now let's go."

O.o.O.o

**Dun dun dun!**

**Not sure what the point of this chapter was, other than a filler to make sure I don't have gaping holes in the plot… but it only took me 2 days to get it up and posted!**

**Happy Easter everyone!**


	6. Chapter 6

**THANK YOU TO MY REVIEWERS (Sirens'spell and crayolakid0413) I DON'T THINK YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH YOU GUYS MADE MY DAY! (Omg omg omg) (I wonder if anyone else freaks out like I do when I get a review)**

**So if you haven't noticed yet, I make a lot of references to various other things. If at any point something confuses you and Google doesn't help, feel free to ask, I'll happily explain. (Especially since I spent the past 7 and a half hours being a nerd and obsessing over kpop with this guy I just met who is so chill its impressive. YAY FOR STAYING UP UNTIL 7 IN THE MORNING! I'M NOCTURNAL NOW!)**

**Wheee I have the best twist planned in my head. Can't wait to write it. Even though I still have quite a while to go to write it.**

**I wonder how quick I can get this chapter up without sacrificing quality? Hm, let's see.**

**(Oh, let's pretend the 25****th**** was a Saturday)**

O.o.O.o

"Can we get a hotel when we get back there? I'm soo sick of riding in this car," Noel wined.

"You sound 7 right now, not 17. Act your age." This was not an uncommon phrase for Bill to say. Bill had married Noel's mom when Noel was young, so Bill acted more like a father than Noel's biological father did. Noel had considered (still considered) Bill his dad. But lately Noel was really wishing his mom married someone a bit more… sane.

"Well, we've been in this white van for weeks now. I want to lay in a bed, not a car."

"But if we check into a hotel, that's leaving a trail, we could get caught."

"Oh yeah, cause actually checking into a hotel is SO much more suspicious than sleeping in a tinted window white van in a town where a murder just happened." The sarcasm was clear in Noel's voice. It had to be, Bill was like most 46 year old adults; oblivious to it.

"Point taken."

O.o.O.o

"Wait, you said you'd take them? We need everyone's head in the case, not some movie." Hotch was not happy with the promise. He was actually quite upset when he found out he might not have all his agents readily available.

"Hotch, I'm having one of the cops take them. I will go with them at first, but I can easily leave." Prentiss was defending her choice.

"Alright, but I need you thinking about the case."

"I promise, I will. I'm going to see what time the movie is playing now." She attempted to avoid this conversation with Hotch, but knew that she was going to hear about it later.

"Okay, but this conversation is not over, Emily." Hotch used an authoritive tone, hoping to get the message across that he didn't appreciate her avoiding him.

Emily nodded in acknowledgement, already headed in the direction of the break room.

She knocked on the open door so they knew she was there. "Did you guys find the movie… or were you to busy looking at cat videos?" She smirked, noticing the computer screen.

Riley just stuck her tongue out. "Yes, we did. 7:30. But oh my god, Prentiss, it's a cat playing the piano!"

"My coworker Penelope showed me the video a while ago."

"Isn't it so cute?" Riley was probably the only one freaking out over the cat to the extreme, Mary was interested but Domo looked mostly confused.

"I don't get her." Domo motioned towards Riley, shaking her head.

"No one does, Domo." Mary shook her head as well. Riley's response was, once again, sticking her tongue out.

"7:30, okay. Hey, if that laptop pops up with a video chat without you even answering, don't worry, it's our tech analyst, Penelope. The one I was telling you about. Oh, and careful what sites you go on, she tracks our keystrokes just to find stuff to tease us on, and don't think you guys are safe from it," Prentiss warned.

"Hey, any friend of keyboard cat is a friend of mine."

"Good. She also likes pictures of baby pandas."

"Even better!"

"Yeah. How far away is the theatre?"

"From here, only about 10 minutes."

"Only?"

"City folk…" Riley looked towards the ceiling in a mock help-me-god expression. She couldn't keep a straight face.

"Speaking of city folk, my 'dad' might be coming up from Jacksonville for Easter to visit me and my mom." Mary mentioned, casually.

"Oh I thought your dad was dead or something."

"Sadly no." Mary hated her dad for walking out on her and her mom so long ago.

"Damn, I'm so sorry."

"So am I, I don't even know the guy though, so I'm hoping to keep it that way."

"Good. So Prentiss, when are we leaving?" Riley changed the subject, subtly evading a Mary-rant.

"Well, uh, I need to stay here. There are a few police officers who can take you though. And since they're basically assigned to you, they can leave whenever. But here," Prentiss handed her Riley's phone, which they had found at the house. "We may need to contact you. Have your phone with you, and on."

Riley took it, nodding. "Got it. Hey, can we actually leave now?"

"Yeah, of course." Prentiss motioned them to follow her, which they did.

Within 5 minutes they were piled in the car headed to the theatre.

O.o.O.o

"Okay, so how are we going to find her?" Bill and Noel were sitting in a hotel room, planning.

"It's a small town. It's not going to be hard. All we do is look. We should rent a car though. More paper trail, but hey, she can recognize the van. This motel is cheap; if we bring her here no one suspects anything." Bill was thinking out loud, not caring whether or not Noel was paying attention.

"Yeah. Let's go, time is ticking." Noel just wanted this to be over so he didn't have to worry.

"Yeah yeah kid, I get it." Bill got up, unlocking the motel door. "Let's go rent a car, luckily it's in walking distance. We can probably have her location in an hour. No crowds here."

O.o.O.o

The only movie theatre was in the mall, so the girls went into the arcade to kill time, the police officer in tow. "Die die!" They were all playing against each-other in some game where you had to shoot aliens. The more aliens, the higher the score. They got competitive enough that they were shoving each-other out of the way, so they had a higher chance of winning.

"Ouch, watch it!" Mary had elbowed Domo a little hard. No one gave them funny looks since they were regulars. The game ended and Riley won since she was less worried about messing Mary and Domo up, and was more worried about herself. She took the tickets and brought them to the guy behind the counter.

"Hey Riley, the regular?"

"Hi James, throw in an extra tootsie roll for Domo."

"You got it." James took the tickets, not even bothering to count.

"Thanks, bro." She pocketed her prizes, and called over to the girls, "hey, I'm going to the bathroom real quick."

"I'll come with you." Domo followed her, while Mary was to absorbed in a game, and just made a motion with her hand to show she heard. The police officer followed them out of the arcade.

"Ouch!" Riley had run head on to a teenage guy she didn't recognize, and fell backwards.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" The boy, who was only a couple years older than Riley, helped her up. His eyes flicked to the police officer, a question in his eyes. "My fault, I should have been watching where I was going…"

The boy was super cute, in Riley's opinion. "It's okay, umm..."

"Noel."

"Noel. Hi, I'm Riley! Anyway, see ya around." And with that they went into the bathroom (to fix makeup or do whatever), the police officer was pacing outside in the hallway.

O.o.O.o

As soon as they left, Noel pulled out the disposable cell phone Bill paid for (instead of renting a different car). "Bad news, she's got the cop you were talking about following her EVERYWHERE." There was some cursing on the other end. "It's okay, I think I can still lure her away." the cursing stopped.

"Do it soon, we're low on time. If Riley really knows my daughter, then she can just tell us where she is..."

O.o.O.o

On the way out of the bathroom, they saw the guy again.

"Hey, Riley!" he called out. "I was wondering if..." his face turned red. "If you'd like to uhh, text me sometime? I'm new to the area and I want to make SOME friends, haha. I can make it up to you that I ran into you!"

Riley found the guy's shyness hilarious and sweet. And cute. A million times cute.

"Yeah..." she grinned.

"Great! Can I have your number? Actually, let's exchange cell phones so we can put our own numbers in?"

Riley took hers out, and each exchanged the numbers. Noel, however, switched her phone to airplane mode so calls and texts wouldn't come in, and she couldn't make any on her phone.

"So what are you doing in the mall?" Noel portrayed his question as an ice breaker, but he was hoping to get some info about her in the process. Useful info anyway.

"We were going to see a movie later. You?" Riley didn't see past his cover. Neither did Domo. Or the police officer.

"Just chilling. Mind if I join you?"

"Course not. Domo, do you mind?"

"No," Domo shook her head. She didn't, as long as Riley was safe.

"Cool! Okay, where to?"

"Well our friend is in the arcade, we should stop there."

"Sweet. I'm down for some air hockey."

"Bring it on."

O.o.O.o

Garcia had been keeping tabs on the phone to make sure the girl was safe, but it was in the background. She noticed the second it switched to airplane mode though. She sat up, confused. "Umm..." she called Hotch.

"Her phone turned off. Well, kind of. It's on airplane mode."

"Alright, thanks Garcia." Hotch hung up, and turned to Emily. "You told her to keep her phone on, correct?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You're not going to be able to call her right now."

"Something's not right... Call the offi-" her phone rang. "Hello? How did you lose sight? Well, look harder. The mall security better be looking too. Good." Prentiss snapped her phone shut. "They lost sight of 2 of the girls. Both Riley and Dominique are missing. They were walking to the arcade with a teenage boy, and they went behind something and the officer lost sight, and now he can't find them."

"You and Morgan go to the mall, I'll call Garcia and tell her to bring up the security cameras." Hotch jumped into action.

O.o.O.o

"I said arcade, not parking lot, where the hell are we going?" Riley knew something was up, and she was doing everything in her power to keep everyone, not just herself, safe right now. If that meant following him, so be it.

"Just trust me on this."

"I don't trust this guy." Domo whispered to Riley. She would have turned back if she wasn't so scared to leave Riley alone.

"I don't either anymore."

"Guys, come on, faster! It's so sick! I want to show you!" Noel seemed excited, but it was a show. He was actually scared. He didn't want to do this but he felt he had to.

Riley stopped short when she saw the van. "Domo, when I say 3, run and hide. Call 911 when you do." she whispered. She could do this alone; there was no way she was letting Dominique get involved.

"Riley-"

"1." they were getting closer and she could see the guy's silhouette in the front seat.

"I don't have a phone."

"2." They were a few cars away.

"I'm not going."

"3."

Domo didn't budge.

"Get in the van." the boy turned to them. He had a gun in his hand. "Please, I'm so sorry." his eyes were pleading. Riley pushed Domo gently.

"Domo, get in, I can get this."

"Riley."

"Now. He's not bluffing."

Riley pretended to walk to get in, so the kid would get in the van. She had Domo get in so the guy would know she wasn't gunna bolt and ditch her friend. As soon as he was out of sight, she looked directly at the security camera, knowing it was too crappy to read the plates. She deliberately showed it the plate number, using American Sign Language. She then ran to get in the car.

"Well well. We finally meet." it was the voice from her nightmare. It sounded exactly like it did in the nightmare too. The boy actually had gotten in the back with them, and he kept whispering he was sorry. That everything would be okay. Meanwhile the man was taunting them.

"Were you guys really so stupid to trust someone you just met? You came so willingly."

"What do you want?" Spat Domo. She was the braver one. Riley was just watching the boy.

"Well, I want my daughter back. I have been across the country searching for her, ever since that bitch my ex divorced me, and moved across the country to start over, taking sole custody of my baby doll!"

"How does this have to do with us?" Domo asked, venom dripping from her words.

"Not you, you stupid girl, it has to do with Riley here. See, I overheard Riley on the phone with my daughter. But I don't know where my daughter is. Riley, I want to make this easy for you. Where is Mary?"

Riley didn't say a word. She was still watching the boy. She nodded towards her phone. The boy took it. Riley made a very small sliding motion with her thumb, signaling to Noel to slide out the keyboard and type what it is he wanted to say, but couldn't. The boy nodded, signaling he got the message.

"Riley's not saying a damn word to you." Domo challenged the guy, hoping to keep the attention on her so that Riley wouldn't get hurt.

"Shut up! I didn't ask you!" Bill was very angry. "Riley, no one gets hurt if you just tell me where she is."

"Why? So you can kill her? I'm not telling you a damn thing. But you should tell me this. What are you doing?"

At this point, Riley was buying time. She knew, well hoped anyway, it wouldn't be long before there were agents getting them out of this situation.

Noel handed her the phone.

_I put ur phone on airplane mode. I knew some1 would notice. I was hoping it'd get the attention of the ppl protecting u. im sorry I had to lure u. He's crazy. If he didn't get u 2 tell him where she was he would have killed us all. He took me, and he's after Mary._

Riley looked him in the eye and nodded. She knew what to do.

O.o.O.o

"Garcia pull up the cam-"

"Step ahead of you. Hacked and done. I have the part where she gets into the van. I hate small towns, the camera is terrible, and I can't see the plate number no matter how much I enhance it. Riley is a smart girl, though. She knew and she used sign language to give me the plates."

"Did you run them?"

"They belong to William Fields. This guy fits what you have figured out so far, as far as his life goes.. His wife divorced him when his daughter was really young, he was left homeless for a little while after the custody battle. It was vicious. He had no custody at all. He did, however, remarry a year and a half later to a woman who already had a son. Oh... The wife died in a car crash a week and a half ago."

"That could be the stressor."

"The son went back to his biological father. The son... Oh, okay then. The son was reported missing exactly 1 week ago. The guy lives in Jacksonville, Florida, but his credit card was last used... To check in at a motel just down the road from the theatre. That's not where they are though, sir. Riley's phone is on the move. Sending the coordinates to your phone now."

"What's the daughter's name?"

"Mary Brown."

"Thanks Garcia." he shut his phone, grabbing his keys. "I know what he's after."

O.o.O.o

**And so it begins… **

**So I don't know if Garcia would be able to tell if the phone switched to airplane but let's pretend she can. For anyone who was confused, Noel switched it to airplane so that everyone would know something was wrong. He got dragged into this mess, and he knows bad stuff will happen if Bill doesn't get what he wants, so he's trying to save the girls, but he's more worried about himself at this point. Mary, the same one who is friends with Domo and Riley, is Bills daughter. Mary's mom told her that Bill walked out on them, but really, she walked out on him, taking their daughter too. Bill had a bit of a mental breakdown when his second wife (also Noel's mom) died in a car accident. Noel went back to his biological dad, since Bill had no legal rights to him. Bill had no one left, so he wanted his children back, at the very least. He kidnapped Noel (since he knew where Noel was). His ex-wife never told him where she took Mary to, so Bill is traveling across the country looking for her. He was kidnapping girls who he thought was his daughter (by killing the families). He then killed them when he had moments of clarity where he realized they weren't Mary. He happened to visit the town Riley lives in, and overheard her on the phone with Mary, so Bill figured he could just take Riley to ask where Mary was. However, she got away. So he took her again to try to get her to tell him where Mary is. That's where they are now.**

**That's basically what I tried to describe in this chapter, but it was harder to include than I thought it would be. So there's my explanation. **

**Thanks for reading this chapter too! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Oh my, I can't tell you how much I love Crayolakid0413 and sirens'spell. You two keep me going!**

**Warning, bad words. Like, worse than fuck. Words I hate using but it's just Riley's character...**

O.o.O.o

"Dominique, just in case, I want you to know that you are the best friend I could ever have. Wait, I take that back. You're the best sister. I still have the poem you gave me in 3rd grade on my wall. I love you in a noncreepy way. And if either of us die, promise we'll wait up for each other in heaven." Riley whispered frantically to Dominique.

Domo shook her head, tears starting. "Don't you dare say that Anabelle Riley. We are both going to live!"

"Just promise me!" Riley was being slightly harsh, but she was trying to get a message across.

"I promise..." Domo understood.

"Thank you..." Riley continued a little louder. "So, why couldn't you have just asked someone where Mary is? Kidnapping isn't gunna get you ANYWHERE."

Bill glanced back at them, anger flashing his eyes, which was exactly what Riley wanted. People made stupid mistakes when they were mad, and Riley challenged his ego. "it's safer for me if I kill you after I get Mary. I don't know, maybe I'll keep you as her little pet... Well, maybe your friend here. Because she's not as sneaky, she won't escape. So I guess I'll just have to kill you..."

"Domo, can you believe this guy? He thinks he's gunna get away with this. I hope he realizes Mary hates his guts." Riley smiled. This should push him.

He braked. Hard. The tires screeched, but he ignored it as he turned around and grabbed Riley's hair. "What did you say?"

"You deaf? Okay, I'll repeat. Mary. Hates. You. She hates you for giving up on her, and she never wants to get to know you. Ever. She told me herself." Riley knew what was coming.

He hit her in the face, with all the force he could. Riley was glad, though. It hurt, and she could already feel the bruise forming, but she knew the longer they stayed parked, the sooner the cops could come. And she was a skilled procrastinator. She was known to write 10 page essays the night before it was due. (Or morning, depending on how you count it.) And they were still written decently.

"Wow, you are so pathetic. You resort to hitting girls now? No wonder Mary's mom left you, you shallow ass. Unless you're just a little girl yourself... No dick? Ah, maybe THAT'S why she left. She doesn't do girls. Not her type?"

"Shut up." He growled, his fist still pulling her hair. Riley wasn't bothered, she had a young brother.

"Oh, you're not denying it?" Riley smirked. She was having to much fun egging this guy on.

"Are you really so stupid to think it's true?"

"You pussy, just admit it."

"Shut up you fucking bitch. You're no girl to be using language like that. That mouth of yours." he hit her mouth, splitting her lip and making it where her mouth dripped blood.

Riley spit some of the blood on his face. "God damn, I'd call you a prick, but I see you STILL aren't denying you have nothing. You're not Mary's father, you're Justin Beiber's." Domo's mouth twitched at the corners, a hint of a smile, whereas Noel had to try hard not to keel over from silent fits of laughter.

"Wait, what?" That threw Bill off. Riley laughed, not saying anything else. She knew Bill would have to reply before they drove again; it would hurt his pride if the remark went unresponded. And it would take a moment for him to come up with one.

"You know what I can do with this?" he took out his knife.

"Of course. You cut off your dick. How else did you get your lady parts? You weren't born with them. Ain't no natural woman that butt ugly."

"I can do this," he cut a small but relatively deep line across her cheek, "and this," one across her other cheek, "and I could do this, but I don't wanna." he traced the knife lightly down the side of her face, starting near her eye and following the face shape down to right below her lip.

"You mothe- wait, there's no mothers who'd fuck you, let me fix this... You fucking cunt, you thing that scares me? I'm the only one who can tell you exactly where Mary is." Riley smiled as she stared at him, trying to ignore the flashing heat on each cheek.

"I could kill your friend..." Bill looked like he was toying with the idea.

Domo finally piped in. "You think death scares me? Riley, I think you're wrong, only men are this stupid."

"Nah, women can be too, maybe he just used to be blonde. I can't tell, what with his receding WHITE hairline." Riley wasn't going to take chances so she subtly moved to block Domo.

"Torture is much easier." Bill took a gun from the glovebox and shot Domo's leg.

O.o.O.o

The suburban's sirens were wailing as the car screeched around turns. They were following the direction of where they knew the girls were headed.

"The van stopped moving!" Garcia was already talking, but she stopped when she saw, and immediately passed on her knowledge.

Prentiss looked at Hotch in the Suburban they were in. "Why would it stop?"

"I don't know. Garcia, how far are we away?"

"At the speed you're going, 10 minutes?"

"What can happen in those 10 minutes?" Prentiss asked, not really a question.

"I'd rather not find out," Hotch said as he stepped up the speed even more.

O.o.O.o

"Bill, what the hell!" Noel was outraged. This was pushing it to far, and he was going to stand up for these girls, no matter how risky it was for him.

"It's the option we're left with." Bill was matter of fact. Noel held his own gun towards Bill. "Noel, don't, I raised you better than this."

"I thought I had a better dad then this." Noel was upset. He opened a van door, not taking his eyes off Bill. "You shoot, I shoot."

"Noel, what are you doing?" Bill was feeling betrayed. How had this so far about 7 minute stop transform Noel? He didn't know that Noel hadn't been on his side to begin with.

Riley didn't get out at first, she had to help Dominique get out, she was losing a lot of blood. She pretty much dumped Dominique on the road. She could hear the sirens in the distance. They were a couple minutes away at most.

"Riley, Domo, I'm so sorry for all of the trouble we gave you. I truly am. If I had done this sooner none of this would have happened." Noel was fighting tears, he couldn't risk a shaky grip or blurred vision right this second.

Domo's eyes closed for a second before opening again. Riley noticed. "Domo stay with me! Don't die! I'll be broken if you die!" Domo struggled a little harder to stay conscious.

Bill and Noel were having a stare down so Riley took the chance. She snuck to the front, opened the door, and started clawing at Bill. She attacked him, finally glad for her nail biting habit, which had never been useful in life before. She clawed at his eyes, but wasn't successful when he closed them. She grabbed the gun, and tossed it, finally dragging the guy (with Noel's help) out of the van where she stomped on his chest. She was extremely lucky that she caught him off guard. There was no way she could have taken a grown man otherwise. Noel pushed her gently aside, prompting her to go to Domo. "I got this."

Riley took the flannel overshirt Noel handed her, and used it to cover Domo's wound. She didn't know what else to do, other than apply pressure. She saw the gun nearby, and took it, pointing it toward the direction Bill and Noel were in, just in case.

Noel had one foot on Bill's chest, and had the gun pointed at him. "1 long week. That's all it took you too breakdown and kill girls because of some fucking delusion you have. I'm so sick of you. You deserve to die. I can't believe it took me this long to get the courage to have your dirt on my hands. Good. B-"

"Kid, drop the gun. You don't want to do this!" Both teens turned to look at the voice where it came from. Neither listened. Noel didn't even flinch, but Riley moved to show Dominique, who's blood was staining the road. "Help!" she mouthed, trying to not interrupt what was going on. Bill deserved everything that came to him.

"I'm not dropping this gun, because this man deserves to die." Noel was staring at Bill the entire time.

Someone had come to help Dominique, but Riley refused to leave. She still had his gun and wouldn't let it go. She wanted this man dead, and if Noel couldn't do it, she would.

"Listen kid, you don't want this on your record. This isn't you. I know you want him to pay for what he's done but don't you think he's gunna pay when the state gets ahold of him? You don't want to do this." Morgan was trying to reason.

"Noel, don't worry if you don't do it, I will." Riley spat. She didn't care that he hurt her, but he hurt her family and her best friend. For that he was gunna pay.

"Riley, the same goes for you. This isn't you."

"Noel, either shoot or I will!" Riley wasn't rational, and deep down she knew it, but she didn't want this man to leave alive. He'd suffer more in hell then he would in some prison.

"Riley I can't... I can't have this on my record, he's right. This isn't me, and as long as he's dead..." Noel dropped the gun. A couple agents and cops tried to get to him, but Riley was shoving her way through.

"Move Noel!" she screamed.

"Riley don't do it!" Morgan shouted, but Riley had already gotten close enough for her comfort.

A gun shot sounded through the area.

Bill looked up, and Riley realized not one bullet came out. "I used the last one on your friend." He started laughing as the cops pulled him up violently and cuffed him.

O.o.O.o

**I know this ones shorter but I wanted to give you guys at least something before I went away for a week. Meaning no updates for at least the next week, plus possibly the week after when I'm catching up on work :( sorry buds**

**What do you think of this one? Feel free to tell me in the reviews! -hint hint-**


	8. Chapter 8

**I have thank-you's to give out! Of course I have my regular reviewers whom I adore and keep close to my heart when I write this story because I love them: Sirens'Spell and Crayolakid0413! **

**And my new reviewer who I also kept close to my heart when writing this chapter because they left a wonderful review, E.J**

**Replies~**

**Sirens'Spell- I am so happy to have made your day, and your review made mine! Like, you don't even know, I live for reviews like those. And hehe I live for randomness, that is a bit of my own personality right there… But like, enhanced. I am like a hipster on instagram when it comes to my writing… **

**Crayolakid0413- Same goes for you! Thank you so much for reviewing! I loved writing those parts, I think I had a bit too much fun… But fun is fun and fun is a very good thing. I wanna have her make jabs like that again…**

**E.J- YAY NEW REVIEWER I LOVE NEW REVIEWS! Me and my friend are actually writing a book right now and we have the whole story line figured out and everything, we just have to write it. Which may take a couple years haha! And hmm, everyone keeps saying she's a mini Prentiss, I think they might be able to connect pretty soon…**

**Okay, ONWARD**

**Go to youtube, type in haru haru by bigbang and play while reading. Then watch the music video with English subs and commence crying….**

O.o.O.o.O.o

"Let's just stop, drop everything, forget each-others names and just walk away."

The iPod was blasting a rock song. Riley liked the rawness of it, the melody seemed to fit the mood perfect (even if the lyrics didn't) What mood was that? She wasn't quite sure. After they all showed up (the cops and stuff) everything went so fast, it was still sinking in.

Right now she was in the car with those FBI agents, and they were heading to the station.

O.o.O.o

Flashback

O.o.O.o

To say Riley was upset was an understatement. She threw the gun in the ditch on the side of the road and stalked back towards the agents. One of the cops retrieved the gun, but Riley wasn't paying attention. She went past everyone, and just stood at the side of the road, waiting for everyone to clean up the whole mess. Tears of pure fury were forming but Riley wasn't letting them fall. She had to force herself to calm down. She was only able to do so by taking out her iPod (how she still had it was beyond her) and played some of the music that she had loved for a while.

"The sanity is slowly slipping from my hands now, I'm standing closer to the edge than I should be allowed." Riley was humming along very softly, letting the music be her escape as her earbuds enveloped her in sound.

She felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked to see who it was and took her earbuds out when she saw. The music was so loud they could both hear it belting "Oh what little regret I have. Does that make me a killer?"

"Alesana?" Prentiss asked. Riley nodded surprised that someone like Prentiss would know a harder rock song.

"They, along with Evanescence, make the dark a more comfortable place to be." Riley added. She meant it more than just the literal sense.

Prentiss nodded, understanding. "Are you going to let them help you out?" she motioned towards the ambulance. (One of them. The other left long ago with Dominique in tow.)

Riley laughed a little at this. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

Prentiss smiled a bit. "Not really."

"Somehow every things gunna fall right into place" the song changed. "This time were not giving up."

Riley glanced at her iPod. "Paramore does it too. The Riot album anyway." she left it at that and paid a visit to some paper stitches and ice. (And an offer of painkillers that she refused to accept).

More controlled, she went back to the agents.

"Ready to go?" The door was already open for her.

O.o.O.o

Riley opened her eyes just in time to see the hospital fly out of sight.

"Waitnogobacknow!Domo'sinthere!Ineedtobetherewithher!" Alarm was prominent in her voice.

"We have to go back to the police station. There's nothing you can do in that hospital but wait, anyway. Dominique will be fine, it's okay."

Riley buried her face in her hands, and, a bit childishly, wished desperately for her parents support. She was beginning to miss them as the realization was finally sinking in that they weren't coming back.

She felt wet and forced the tears to stop, managing to compose herself in the couple minutes longer it took to get to the station.

When she got out of the car she was surprised to see Mary waiting for her. Mary didn't say a word, just hugged her in a knowing way.

Riley let go first. "Did you see who it was?" Mary shook her head, but at that moment the police car containing the criminal pulled in and he was dragged out roughly.

The moment father and daughter eyes met, Mary's expression was shocked but hurt, but soon got as cold as it ever could. Bills looked puppy like, and protective, but worryingly relieved. Riley tugged Mary's attention away and the police pulled Bill into the building.

No one really knew what to say to Mary. The whole area just seemed silent. Riley started. "Mary..."

"Riley it's okay I always knew."

O.o.O.o

Later...

O.o.O.o

"So we thank you, mystery man, for rescuing that kitten from the tree and returning him to the nursing home where he belongs. And onto a different story with a less happy ending, murderer William Colesarts, known to family as Bill, committed a violent suicide in his prison cell. He left a note that I cannot read to you at this time, but I am allowed to say, it was regretful and sad. Can someone who's killed so many families across the country be sorry? It seems-"

The tv clicked off as Riley directed her attention away from Mary's tv. They looked at eachother, knowing they were thinking the same thing.

"Mom, we need you to drive us to the police station!" Mary called out. Her mom appeared seconds later with the keys. "You saw the news too?" Her mom nodded.

A few minutes later Riley and Mary were pushing through the doors, both anxious to find whoever could tell them what was on that note.

"Riley!" The girls turned around at the voice.

"Agent Prentiss, what are you still doing here, aren't you supposed to be back in Virginia?" Riley looked around looking for everyone else.

"I actually stayed behind to do something… Can I talk to you alone for a second?" Riley glanced and Mary for a second, her gaze saying 'Don't do anything while I'm gone', and she followed Prentiss.

"What's wrong?" Riley asked the second the door closed.

"Nothing's wrong, I promise, but I have something very important I wanna ask you. Sit down?"

"Sure…" She delicately took the rolling chair offered.

Prentiss took a deep breath before starting. "When I was younger, I made a bit of a mistake, and I regret it now. All throughout my life we moved many places and when you're young you just wanna fit in. When I was 15 I got pregnant. But I had an abortion. I thought it was a way out." Riley's expression hardened at the word. She was extremely antiabortion and looked down on anyone who saw it as a way out. Prentiss noticed and started trying to explain quicker before she lost her. "It was a huge mistake. All my life I live with the regret of taking that life. As I grew up I realized exactly what I was missing out. But my job interfered with having a young kid.

I guess where I'm trying to go with this, would you be ok with me adopting you? I'm not trying to replace your parents or anything, but I wanted to give you somewhere to go, and give support and help you along until you reach college. You're smart, you could get into a good one easily and I know I could help you get there and I know it's far away but we could make lots of visits up here and-"

Riley cut her off. "Prentiss, I'd love it if you did. You and those other agents were willing to put up with me and offered support at one of my worst times. And obviously I have no family left except for my cousin but he's barely out of high school… And I'm sure you'd make a great mother someday."

"Thank you so much."

O.o.O.o.O.o

**So, first up, gunna explain the music video that I told you to watch. The two guys you see going at eachother in the beginning are band members GD and TOP. GD is the one who says "I was so wrong forgive me" and TOP was the one talking to that girl. They are best friends, like, they have their own songs together and everything (if you have time, check them out), and yeah, GD is in love with this girl, but the girl leaves him for TOP as seen in the beginning, but what happens is the girl is dying of cancer (but GD doesn't know this) and TOP and the girl are acting like a couple to get GD to move on so he won't be sad when she dies. TOP risks his friendship to get GD to not be hurt. The girl ends up dying and in the hospital TOP finally confesses when he hands GD the ring, saying "I'm sorry I lied, she really does love you." But GD didn't come in time to say goodbye, he only sees her when they're wheeling out her dead body… So yeah, sad video. **

**Second, OMG IM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPLOADING IN LITERALLY MONTHS! It won't happen again, I promise this time. This chapter was hard for me and yeah finals and ew but its summer vacation now so many many updates to come! :D**

Special props to anyone who can get the unnamed song at the beginning. NO CHEATING!


	9. Chapter 9

So sorry this isn't a real update but I have an important question to ask everyone. Should I keep going with this story, or am I at a good stopping place where I can make a sequel? My next update should be in a couple days, I just need to know where to put it…


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